// Chapter four //

It was easy for Ashton to gain admission in to the high school, of the town he lived in before his parents separated and he had to be traveling occasionally between cities, seeing as in previous school, he was a good student and studious.

He had originally planned to just live with his dad and start a new life with him and Alicia but his mother's constant cries of her baby to come see her urged him to return back.

He woke up early that Monday morning to get ready for school. He did the normal routine he did when he stayed with his dad; have a shower, brush his teeth, get dressed, roughly dry his hair, ate breakfast which was mostly frosty flakes and he would run out the door to catch his bus.

Left to him, he would be lounging in his bedroom at home not rushing out the door to catch a bus for school but it was his mother's idea. Her exact words replayed itself like a broken record in his brain, "You never know how long you will stay here honey. It's best to just re enrol in your old school. I'm sure they would take you back." She had said this when making the pancakes on Sunday morning.

He felt uneasy about returning though because he would be seeing a familiar face, Serabi Steinfield, he hadn't seen her since years ago when he told her he was moving with his dad and if he's memory served him right, that was five years ago when they were thirteen. This thought didn't cross him until Julia said it.

"At least you would see Serabi again. Wasn't it five years ago you both last spoke?" His mother said oblivious to the discomfort on his face and she sounded thrilled at the thought of Serabi, why wouldn't she anyways? She loved Serabi. She would compliment her glowing African American skin saying it shone like gold or that her accent was one of a goddess. His mother also joked that Serabi would be her future daughter in law and that she won't have any other daughter but her.

The thought of seeing Serabi again made his heart rate pick up. He wondered and worried about what he will say to her? How she will react to his return? Whether she will be thrilled or irritated?

Ashton and Serabi had been inseparable as kids. They were the closet of friends and shared mutal interest in several things like music and movies. When he first moved away, he thought about calling her up and talking to her but he always came up with one excuse or the other to not proceed with the decision, so he will put the phone down and not pick it up till the next day. Little by little, his urge to speak to her slowly faded away.

When he got off the bus that morning and walked the remaining blocks to his school, panic begun to flow through his veins and pulses.

He paused at the entrance of the school's gate before exhaling heavily and proceeded to enter the school.

He stepped into the school and few eyes flashed his way curious about the new kid in school but he didn't mind the stares, his eyes scanned the hall for that one familiar face. He frowned when he saw her with a hood covering her face, clutching her books against her chest. He wasn't frowning because of the way she looked but the situation she was in. And from where he stood, it looked like she was getting talked down on by some blonde chic who he recalled from middle school that her name was Jemma. Ashton felt the deepest urge to walk over there, scold Jemma and wrap his arms around Serabi to protect his best friend but he had to constantly remind himself that he was no longer her best friend, that they hadn't spoken for five years and that he can't just walk up there like nothing has changed between them because everything changed right from when he moved away.

He stood there with a broken heart, watched Jemma and her crew finally walk away. He waited for Serabi to walk to her locker and back the hallway before he easily slipped past her to his first class of the day.

Ashton sat in the lonely classroom, save from the history teacher, when he felt a pair of eyes on him. He switched his attention to the pair of brown eyes on him before they were averted. Although they had left him, his eyes still remained on her.

Second update!!! Thank you all again! I appreciate it and love you guys!!!

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